Whistler Blackcomb Invest in Three Ski Lift Upgrades

07 December 2017By Verity Eyre

Vail Resorts, owners of Whistler Blackcomb have today announced that they will be making a historic investment of $66million into the resort which includes much needed lift infrastructure upgrades. The planned upgrades will increase upload capacity, reduce queues and therefore improve the overall resort experience.

The planned lift upgrades include:

A brand new 10 seater gondola from the base of Blackcomb Mountain to the top, replace the Wizard and Solar Coaster chair lifts. The lift will terminate at the Rendezvous Lodge providing a direct link to the PEAK TO PEAK Gondola which connects Blackcomb with Whistler Mountain. The new gondola is said to have the greatest capacity in North America with it's ability to transport up to 4,000 people per hour.

The old and slow moving 3-seater Catskinner lift on Blackcomb will be replaced with a faster 4-seater lift which will be welcomed by skiers and riders who like spend their days lapping Blackcomb Terrain Park.

Meanwhile, over on Whistler Mountain the current 4-seater Emerald Chair will be replaced with a high-speed 6-seater lift. This is a much needed upgrade as Emerald chair often becomes a bottleneck with large lift lines at weekends due to simultaneously serving the family/learning zone and Whistler Terrain Park.

Vice president and chief operating officer of Whistler Blackcomb had this to say about the planned investment; “Over the past few years, Whistler Blackcomb has seen tremendous enthusiasm from guests from around the world. This transformative investment, the largest in the resort’s history, will offer a dramatic improvement to the experience for all of our guests as they explore and enjoy the largest and most popular resort in North America. We intend to continue to pursue other base area and village improvements that were part of the Renaissance, but we believed it was critical to start at our core, on the mountain.”

Upgrades are expected to be implemented in time for the 2018-19 ski season.